DHARAMSHALA, June 19: In a first of its kind demonstration for Tibet, hundreds of supporters took out a skateboard rally in Berlin, calling for the rights of the Tibetan people on Sunday.
The “FreeRide Berlin” was Germany’s biggest skateboard demonstration with almost 300 skaters showing their disapproval of the worsening human rights situation inside Tibet in recent years.
“With FreeRide Berlin our intention was to use the passion for our sport to serve a good cause,” said Tubbs Oparaugo, the project initiator. “These days young people are far from being apolitical, they just use different and new ways to express themselves.”
Beginning from Berlin’s famous Alexanderplatz, people from different walks of life joined the staking demonstration, wheeling along the 8-kilometer-long circuit around the city carrying Tibetan flags.
The unique demonstration concluded with a concert and a graffiti spraying action for Tibet later in the evening.
“FreeRide Berlin is a great example of how young people continue to fight for the rights of the Tibetan people”, said Tsewang Norbu, board member of Tibet Initiative Germany. “The skaters commitment is in a long-standing tradition with the world-famous Tibetan Freedom Concerts of the 1990s.”
Founded in 1989, TID is a strong voice for Tibet in Germany advocating for the Tibetan people’s right to self-determination and the protection of human rights in Tibet.
Organisers believe that skateboarding as an expression of freedom and urbanity can become a symbol of support for those whose voices and cultures are being suppressed.
